Treasurer

Role: Treasurer of Human Milk Foundation (Trustee Role)

Contract: Trustees serve for 3-year terms.

Pay rate: Voluntary, but reasonable expenses are reimbursed.

Location: Meetings are a combination of virtual, hybrid and in-person; Trustees must be based in the UK.

Process: Prospective Trustees are welcome to meet with the senior management team, observe Board meetings, visit the Hearts Milk Bank, and discuss the role and work of the charity with the other Trustees prior to being voted onto the Board. 

Role summary

Specific responsibilities of the Treasurer:

• Keeping the board informed about its financial duties and responsibilities.
• Working closely with the chief operating officer, providing a sounding board, expert advice and challenge to ensure the charity operates as effectively as possible.
• Ensuring the committee maintains adequate oversight of all income generating activities of The Human Milk Foundation as a registered charity.
• On the basis of discussions with the Senior Leadership Team and committee, recommending business plans, budgets, the annual report and accounts to the board.
• Being assured that the financial resources of the organisation meet its present and future needs and ensuring that the charity has an appropriate reserves and cash reserves policy.
• Being assured that appropriate financial procedures and internal controls are in place.
• Ensuring the annual report and accounts are prepared in accordance with financial best practice and meet the requirements of the regulators and the relevant statutory bodies.
• Ensuring an appropriate audit plan and that any recommendations of the auditors are implemented appropriately.
• Making a formal presentation of the annual report and accounts.
• Approving expenditure in accordance with financial procedures. 

Person specification

The Treasurer is likely to have:

• a commitment to the mission and values of the HMF as well as the wider voluntary sector;
• a strong commercial mindset and understanding;
• a recognised financial qualification or substantial relevant financial experience;
• understanding of charity finance or a willingness to understand how wider financial skills
• translate to charities;
• integrity;
• strategic vision;
• objective and independent judgement;
• an ability to think creatively;
• a willingness to speak their mind as well as listening to others;
• an understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship;
• an ability to work effectively as a member of a team and to take decisions in the best interests of The Human Milk Foundation. 

About The Human Milk Foundation

The Human Milk Foundation is working to help more families feed their babies with human milk, meeting multiple critical unmet needs in the perinatal care of families. The HMF operates the Hearts Milk Bank, a human milk bank that provides screened donor human milk to neonatal units in over 50 NHS hospitals and to hundreds of families each year who face challenges feeding their babies. Since its launch in 2018, the HMF now operates across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and beyond. Our research has shown positive impacts on infant health, as well as on parental wellbeing and breastfeeding rates.

The HMF was conceived in 2017 by a group of parents, scientists, milk bank experts and doctors, frustrated by the lack of assured access to donor milk for vulnerable infants, alongside countless parents who wanted to access donor milk for their babies, who did not meet NHS funding criteria. Human milk banks have been under-resourced in the UK for decades, leading to fragmented service provision, rationing and deficits in healthcare professional education, research, professionalisation, and public awareness.

Our charity is now recruiting for new Trustees who share our team’s ambitious goal to create a new vision of human milk bank services, and how these will integrate into perinatal care. The charity is currently operating on a 3-year strategy to achieve scale without compromising the care and support of each donor and recipient family.

Trustees will possess attention to detail and enjoy working in a team that is driving excellence and innovation in the support of infant and maternal health. We need your energy and enthusiasm and offer opportunities to participate in a range of projects both within the HMF and with external collaborators. The Trustees are a strong team, navigating rapid growth in this young charity by challenging and supporting the operational team.

Support for new Trustees is offered by the charity in the form of training, time with the cofounders and other Trustees, visits to the Hearts Milk Bank, and regular opportunities to gain new skills. Trustees are encouraged to take on responsibility for specific areas of governance within the charity. These include but are not limited to the Risk Register, Prioritisation Panel, Research Committee, and assisting the Executive Team with specific projects.